[The characteristic of the injuries inflicted by a 'Zelinka' speargun shot]

The available literature reports only rare cases of injuries inflicted by the speargun shots. The last publication of this sort of which we are aware dates back to 1960. This article describes an example from the expert practice concerning the accident involving a wound caused by the speargun shot to a member of an amateur fishing party. The authors examined the weapon of injury (a 'Zelinka' speargun), the harpoon, its head, and fragments of the skin with the traces of the punctured wound obtained from the corpse of the victim. The investigative experiment included the underwater shooting from different distances with the use of a pork carcass as the target. The results of the comparative studies gave evidence of the possibility of formation of the wounds caused by exactly that harpoon, its head and cord which served as the weapons of the wound experienced by the victim. Moreover, the distance and the direction of the shot as well as a number of important concomitant circumstances of the accident were determined.